Brewer Fountain

Brewer Fountain is a 1868 bronze sculpture by Michel Joseph Napoléon Liénard. It stands near the corner of Park and Tremont Streets in Boston, Massachusetts, by Park Street Station.

Brewer Fountain
Brewer Fountain
Artist	Michel Joseph Napoléon Liénard
Completion date	3 June 1868
Medium	Bronze
Subject	Neptune, Amphitrite (Neptune's wife), and Acis and Galatea
Dimensions	670 cm (260 in)
Weight	15,000 pounds
Location	Boston, Massachusetts

One of many stereoscopic images of the fountain

History

The 22-foot-tall (6.7 m), 15,000-pound (6,800 kg) bronze fountain, cast in Paris, was a gift to the city by Gardner Brewer. It began to function for the first time on June 3, 1868. It is one of several casts of the original, featured at the 1855 Paris World Fair, designed by French artist Michel Joseph Napoléon Liénard;[1] other copies with minor variations can be found across the world, including the Steble Fountain in Liverpool or the Tournouy Fountain in Québec.

At least sixteen other copies exist, including one on Av. Cordoba y Cerrito in Buenos Aires and in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.[2][3] The fountain is decorated with the figures of Neptune, Amphitrite (Neptune's wife), and Acis and Galatea, a couple from Greek mythology.[4] It fell into disrepair and finally stopped functioning entirely in 2003. A major repair project began in 2009.[5] After a year-long $640,000 off-site restoration led by sculpture conservator Joshua Craine of Daedalus Inc., it was re-dedicated on May 26, 2010.[6]

See also

• 1868 in art

References

1. "Brewer Fountain on Boston Common, with a Biography of Gardner Brewer". Celebrateboston.com. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
2. http://www.e-monumen.net/index.php?option=com_monumen&monumenTask=monumenDetails&catid=7&monumenId=646&Itemid=19
3. http://www.publicartaroundtheworld.com/Ornamental_Fountain_Tacna.html
4. "Boston Common". Aviewoncities.com. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
5. "141-year-old Brewer Fountain to undergo restoration". The Boston Globe. June 12, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
6. "A jewel of the Boston Common glistens once more". The Boston Globe. May 27, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2012.

External links

• The Brewer Fountain, (sculpture). at the Smithsonian Institution